Turmeric is the rhyzo of Curcuma longa L. one of the 100 species of Curcuma belonging to the Zingiberaceae family.

It has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anti-apoptotic pharmacological properties. It can be used in the control of the aging process involving oxidative stress, inflammation and apoptosis. Recently, several reports have suggested that there are several nutraceuticals that have an effect on aging, such as Ginkgo Biloba, Resveratrol and Turmeric.

For its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, Turmeric is used to treat an incredible number of diseases (for review see Kumar et al, 2011;. Gupta et al, 2013; Chin, 2016). Oxidative stress and inflammatory processes have been involved in the pathogenesis of several disorders such as senile dementia and therefore Turmeric extract is considered a drug. Recent studies have focused on the effect that Turmeric has on the aging process (to review see Trujillo et al., 2014), with a focus on the brain. The neural aging process produces a reduction in memory and learning due to anatomical changes such as the reduction in the size of the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus (for a review see Flores et al., 2016a, c) (1).

Inside, we find Curcumin, a polyphenol that has the ability to inhibit the peroxidation of lipids and that can eliminate harmful free radicals (2).

Some species of Turmeric that have healthy aspects similar to the Curcuma longa:

• Curcuma longa
• Curcuma raktakanda
• Curcuma zedoaria 
• Curcuma caesia 
• Curcuma wenyujin
• Curcuma amada
• Curcuma domestica
• Curcuma amada roxb.

Safety

Turmeric is generally used as a safe dietary supplement, however the literature cites several cases of turmeric-induced hepatitis (3).

Turmeric studies

References____________________________________________

(1) Curcuma longa L. extract improves the cortical neural connectivity during the aging process.
Flores G.
Neural Regen Res. 2017 Jun;12(6):875-880. doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.208542. Review.

(2) Motterlini R, Foresti R, Bassi R, et al. Curcumin, an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent, induces heme oxygenase-1 and protects endothelial cells against oxidative stress. Free Radical Bio Med. 2000;28:1303–1312.

(3) Turmeric Induced Liver Injury: A Report of Two Cases.  Luber RP, Rentsch C, Lontos S, Pope JD, Aung AK, Schneider HG, Kemp W, Roberts SK, Majeed A.  Case Reports Hepatol. 2019 Apr 28;2019:6741213. doi: 10.1155/2019/6741213

Abstract. Turmeric is a commonly used oral herbal supplement with purported anti-inflammatory and antineoplastic properties. It is promoted as safe, with limited reports of severe adverse effects directly related to oral turmeric thus far in the literature. Herein we report two cases of turmeric supplement induced severe hepatitis. These cases highlight the need for physicians to be aware of patients taking this common supplement and the potential risks that exist.